ABA Section of Business Law

In 2009, it may be trite to say that we live in a global economy. One
could make the case that elements of a global economy have existed since
the first century A.D., though it is arguably a paradigm that really took
hold in the latter part of the twentieth century. If one needs further
convincing, the rippling effects of the U.S. credit crunch that have been
with us for the past 18 months or so ought to provide such
confirmation.

But this is not an article about the global economy. Rather, it is a
story about two law students, each deciding whether to obtain a law degree,
one student in the latter part of the 1990s and the other approximately a
decade later. Both chose to enroll in the joint JD/LLB program at the
University of Windsor and the University of Detroit Mercy.

Let's start with the most recent story of Rob Blackstein, now a
practicing lawyer in the business law department of one of the largest law
firms in Canada.

Rob's Story
During the summer of my third year in university, I had the good fortune of
landing an internship at the International Joint Commission in Washington,
D.C. The ICJ is a bilateral organization that, among other things, assists
the Canadian and U.S. governments in cleaning up transborder waterways. I
loved my time in Washington, and my experience inspired me to seek out a
way to study both legal systems. I found that opportunity in the JD/LLB
program at the University of Windsor and the University of Detroit
Mercy.

Life after law school led me back to my hometown of Toronto and into
private practice in the heart of Canada's financial district, where I
decided to specialize in business law. My legal practice today is
transactions-based, with a particular focus on mergers and acquisitions,
private equity, and cross-border finance between Canada and the United
States, including project finance and fund formation. I have had the
opportunity to work on a number of cross-border projects, including port,
road, and other infrastructure acquisitions and financings.

Through my joint studies I developed an understanding of the highly nuanced
nature of U.S. corporate law, and especially the Uniform Commercial Code.
As a Canadian I can remember being fascinated by the jurisdictional divide
between the states and the federal government, and while Canada's
federal/provincial bifurcation is somewhat similar, it is not nearly as
complex as it is in the United States.

My education is an asset in my current practice, especially in advising
U.S. and Canadian clients on cross-border deals. Clients appreciate
receiving advanced notice that transactions may need to be structured to
accommodate the nuances of both legal systems. Because of my familiarity
with both systems, I can provide U.S. clients with parallels to equivalent
U.S. legislation when explaining Canadian rules, especially when liaising
with U.S. general counsel for large entities with Canadian and American
business operations. On the Canadian side, many M&A practitioners
frequently look to the Delaware laws for guidance when identifying
potential issues and developing transaction documentation. It's certainly
easier to parse Delaware case law after spending so much quality time with
those decisions in law school.

I continue to build upon the foundation of my legal training from the
JD/LLB program in practice, and I'm always looking forward to assisting
clients through their cross-border business endeavors.

Bernadette's Story
Ultimately, I made the same decision as Rob, but my path to get there was
slightly different.

First, I had theoretically completed all of my post-secondary education,
having previously obtained an MBA. And second, I was gainfully employed in
a government finance department and had been involved in some fairly
interesting key policy issues and programs. But clearly that was not quite
enough. While I found the landscape of government policy quite fascinating,
I came to realize that each new initiative in government involved
significant policy considerations and number-crunching exercises to inform
a "go/no-go" decision. Once that go decision was made, the law
was often a key instrument to implementation. And I saw that that side of
the project looked surprisingly more interesting to me than the pieces in
which I was involved. Hence, my first pull to the law.

As a government policy analyst, it seemed logical to think that my modus
operandi had swayed from business motives to social policy matters. I had
not yet discovered that the two were not mutually exclusive. I figured that
I would go to law school, and then return to the land of public policy and
be a government lawyer. But was I sure about this? Recall, I had already
expended the time and expense for two degrees and I already had a job. I
had to justify the decision to quit working and go back to school for a law
degree. In other words, I had to be certain that I wanted to be a lawyer.
All of the other rigmarole about the value of a law degree and how it could
be used to do other things besides be a lawyer was useless to me. I already
had one of those alternative careers to law.

The next layer in the analysis was what kind of lawyer I wanted to be. That
forms the backbone of the key route and theme in this long and winding
story to why the joint degrees. Now, if the reader is following along, this
is where one interjects, "You already decided to be a government
lawyer." But the more I peeled this layer of the onion, the more I
became concerned with not limiting my options too early. I had already
changed my mind about a career path once. What if I wanted to do that
again?

Although I first sought law schools that had a strong element of public
policy in their curriculum, I became focused on ensuring I did not
inadvertently sign on to something too narrow and limited, either in
substantive focus or jurisdiction. At the time, it seemed to me that the
law schools were divided between the streams of social policy and
capitalism. In hindsight, I do not think the lines were all that black and
white.

I began branching out in my considerations, and to keep options open,
strongly considered going to school in the United States. With this
backdrop, the Windsor/Detroit Mercy option was absolutely perfect. Windsor
has a strong focus on public policy and a heavy emphasis on business. The
law school also has a joint LLB/MBA program. The joint JD/LLB program
seemed to have it allpublic policy and business, not just from an
international commerce perspective, but from each perspective of Canada and
the United States.

Today, I practice in business law almost exclusively in the energy sector.
Although I work with clients whose business will never leave the province
of Ontario, I also often work on projects having multinational reach. I
quite regularly find myself negotiating with American counsel, for example,
in energy trading arrangements. Having taken U.S. business corporations and
commercial law courses has had very practical benefits in this regard.

However, the soft benefits of a joint degree have been as valuable as the
strictly academic readings of Delaware case law. For one thing, clients
like it, especially when they have U.S. operations or are dealing with U.S.
counterparties. If they do business in the United States or other
jurisdictions, it makes complete sense to them that their lawyers also
ought to be versed in multiple jurisdictions.

I just returned from international negotiations on a power project in the
Caribbean. Sitting across the table, acting on behalf of the Caribbean
government, was an American lawyer from Washington (I was on for the
project developer). Neither U.S. nor Canadian law had anything to do with
the matter of the day. But he was an American energy lawyer and I
immediately felt some understanding of where his vantage point might lie. I
could not say the same, however, of local counselall because I sat in
a law school classroom in Detroit 10 years ago. You see, physically
attending law school in the United States afforded all of the intangible
benefits that any immersion experience bringsthe opportunity to
engage in the discourse of law on a daily basis with American law students
and obtain a broadened perspective by living it (a handy tool in
negotiations). This is vastly different from simply reading American law
and being called to a state bar.

As it turns out, it is quite important for a lawyer in the energy sector to
have an understanding of energy policy (and hence regulatory frameworks) in
multiple jurisdictions. So today, I follow American energy policy as
closely as I follow that of Canada. Consequent with that, I follow the
accompanying laws at least with broad brushstrokes. The unanticipated
benefit of this is a diverse perspective on energy regulatory frameworks,
which has become exceedingly valuable when it comes to advising on energy
regulation and commercial arrangements.

My final rumination is this: the value of the joint degree is not assessed
by whether I could still do what I'm doing now, and do it as easily, had I
not obtained the U.S. degree. Of course I could and I have many colleagues
who do not have U.S. law degrees who ably advise on cross-border and
multinational matters. And it is no secret that I could also have chosen to
practice in New York or Washington or some other state (though perhaps not
all) without having obtained a U.S. law school degree. The value is this:
it was an opportunity for immersion in a different knowledge and life
perspective. There are many different ways to obtain this experience and
knowledge. The joint degree was one path that I chose to take, and to this
day, an experience I continue to value.

Joint American/Canadian Law Degree Programs

Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto and New York University School
of Law provide students with an opportunity to earn, through a combined
program of study, a JD degree from NYU and an LLB degree from Osgoode.

The University of Alberta Faculty of Law in Edmonton and the
University of Colorado School of Law in Boulder have created a
dual-degree program. Students will be able to earn a JD and its Canadian
equivalent, an LLB, in this four-year program, spending two years at each
school.

The University of Ottawa Faculty of Law offers a four-year combined
program that allows participants to obtain both the Canadian and the
American law degrees. This program is offered jointly by the University of
Ottawa and its partner schools in the United States. Participants spend two
years at Ottawa and two years at one of two U.S. law schools: Michigan
State University College of Law in East Lansing, Michigan, or American
University (Washington College of Law) in Washington, D.C.

The University of Windsor Faculty of Law and the University of
Detroit Mercy School of Law have collaborated to create a unique joint
American/Canadian law degree program. Students complete 104 credits in
three years and successful graduates receive both their JD and LLB
degrees.